Transformers are used in a variety of electrical circuits to transfer electrical energy from one part of a circuit to another through magnetic field coupling. A transformer is typically constructed from two or more coils, or windings, of wire in close proximity such that electrical characteristics may be transferred. Typical characteristics transferred through a transformer include voltage magnitude, current magnitude, phase, and impedance level.
In radio frequency (RF) transformers, complex electrical signals of varying frequencies are often transferred. Typically these types of transformers operate at much higher frequencies than transformers used for power transfer, and are also designed to operate at a wide frequency range, often several decades wide. Such transformers must therefore minimize power loss, or leakage flux, by insuring that substantially all flux passing through one coil also passes through the others.
One type of RF transformer is known as a coupler, or power divider. Such a transformer is used to provide low frequency impedance matching between the input circuit and the output circuit. This type of transformer is often used with electrical transmission signals for accurate frequency response. Such accuracy is necessary for reliable transmission of data over an electronic medium.
In the telecommunications industry, such complex electrical transmission signals often comprise large amounts of information in varying forms, such as voice and data. These signals carry the data from a number of sources to a number of remote destinations. Various frequencies manipulations are used to organize the data so carried to insure complete, reliable transfer to a destination. The quantity of such frequency manipulations which can be supported is called bandwidth. Increased efficiency of bandwidth use is required due to rising demand for modern developments such as quality-of-service (QOS) and real-time applications. It is therefore desirable to maximize the bandwidth available over a particular line through such frequency manipulations.
Such bandwidth usage, however, is prone to physical constraints. Such constraints include interference from external sources, distance and power loss restrictions due to electrical resistance, and signal degradation due to switching points across the physical network.
It would be beneficial to develop a coupler with enhanced frequency response and reflection to minimize flux loss and provide superior impedance matching. Such a coupler has broad application in contexts where electrical transmission signals suffer from such physical bandwidth constraints.